Final Destiny
by Kristen Michone
Summary: "I was speechless. A moroi drinking from a strigoi. A moroi draining a strigoi. It had never been done before. Not even considered. Obviously the affects were disastrous, but this was insane. Robert was insane. I could feel vengeance in the energy around him. He was a different kind of strigoi. He was a strigoi that could use magic."
1. Chapter 1

**disclaimer:**

**I do not own Vampire Academy or anything that has to do with it. I am just a bored fan who needs an excuse to write a story.**

**Each character mentioned here belongs to the official author, Richelle Mead.**

**I dedicate this to her. **

He pressed his lips onto my neck gently, and I melted into his touch. He pushed my hair back to make more bare skin, his fingertips just barely touching my skin. He kissed my neck again and I arched up.

Then I stopped. I suddenly became stiff. This was not happening.

I was not Lissa. This was not Dimitri; it was Christian. It couldn't be Dimitri, because that would be impossible, all odds were against us being together.

Yet, when Dimitri murmured my name against my neck, I relaxed under his touch, our entire history coming back to me.

I rolled over on top of him, and I rested my head on his chest. His fingertips lightly scratch down my back and back up, sending chills throughout my entire body. I leaned up to kiss him again, but he shook his head and put his finger to my lips.

"No, Rosa." He said, and I rolled off him and onto my back as he sat up, the blanket to our bed falling a little, revealing his bare chest.

"It's been three weeks sense I got shot Dimitri, I'm fine." When everyone calmed down from Tasha Ozera's imprisonment, Lissa's crowning, Jill's new ancestry, and my shooting; my mother decided that it wasn't healthy for me to be stepping right back into my usual guardian duties, and I was given a month to heal. For damphirs, a month is longer then we need, but my mom pulled some strings, even though I protested against it. My father, Abe Mazur, also had a lot to do with it.

Dimitri had decided, without asking me, that if I was going to be on brake from my guardian duties, I shouldn't be doing any physical activities. Even the ones I enjoyed.

"You and I both know I'm in perfect condition. I could take down an army of strigoi and still be fine." Dimitri relaxed and laid his head back on his pillow, and I snuggled into him, nuzzling his neck.

"The guardians don't seem to think that." He replied, but didn't stop me. I kissed behind his ear lightly, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer, but not completely on top of him.

"Han's judgment is clouded; I think he has a crush on my mom. If anybody else asked him if someone could take a break, he would have been outraged." I murmured against his throat.

"He didn't tell Abe he was outraged." Dimitri countered. I lifted my head to look at his face.

"Would you say no to Abe?" I asked. Dimitri thought for a second, and then shook his head.

"Probably not." He answered, and I laid my head back on his shoulder.

"I think my parents planned this. They knew you wouldn't try anything." I said, sighing.

"Your parents know nothing about your sex life." Dimitri replied, running his fingers through my hair.

"My non-existent sex life you mean. And who knows, you and Abe are best friends now, there's no telling what information you are giving him." I teased. My dad had come by almost two weeks ago to finally have his conversation with Dimitri, and it apparently ended well. Dimitri never told me what they talked about, but now Abe would call and they would go out to the Court bars and have a beer, or just hang out. Dimitri still didn't particularly trust him, and he wasn't comfortable around him, but he also wasn't willing to say no.

"Rose, you're not going to get your way." I glared at him and sat up, getting out of bed. I was wearing a skimpy teal lace and silk nightgown, and it revealed a lot of skin. I knew Dimitri still wanted me, and I knew it was killing him to wait. Desire burned in his eyes, but I chose to ignore it.

We both had our own suit in court, but he usually stayed in mine, because I was there and also because it was in the royal housing and it was a lot nicer than anything he got. It was more like a small apartment than a hotel room, it had a kitchen and a living room, a bathroom and bedroom, and it even had a small dining room.

I headed for the door and Dimitri sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"Rose, where are you going?" He asked, exasperated. I turned to look at him, standing in the doorway of the bedroom.

"Well, you've made it pretty obvious that you don't really want me, so I've decided to get out of your way. I'm sure I'll find somebody here who's willing to 'let me get my way.'" I turned back around, knowing I got my point across, but before I knew it, Dimitri was behind me. He grabbed my wrist and turned me around, pulling me into him.

"Rose." He said threateningly.

"Comrade." I replied.

"Get back in bed." He ordered. I thought for a second, and then decided to stand my ground.

"No."

"Yes."

"No." Dimitri sighed and released my wrist, wrapping his arm around my waist. I continued to look him in the eye, never faltering.

"I don't want to hurt you." He said. His voice was filled with compassion, but I could tell my threat to go find another guy was still hovering in his head.

"I'm fine." I re-stated.

"It doesn't hurt anymore?" He asked, moving his hand to where the bullet impacted with my skin.

"Not for a while. It comes and it goes." He frowned and I knew immediately I had said the wrong thing.

"But right now it's gone!" I tried to rephrase. "Someone once told me that it's better to jump in early when you don't feel as bad as you could."

"I don't think those were their words exactly." He said. "I think that person was probably talking about different activities. And they probably weren't talking about the kind of pain a bullet would cause."

"It might as well have been. I was in serious pain." I said, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him softly.

"All that training worked though." He protested, but kissed me back anyway, and a little harder than I expected.

"Let me prove it." I suggested, pulling myself closer to him. He considered for a moment, debating his options, than I finally won.

"We have to be careful." He explained.

"Of course." I replied, as I ran my hand down his chest and stomach, stopping at his pajama bottoms.

"I'm serious, Rose." He said, and I nodded in agreement, slipping my thumb under the cotton. Dimitri picked me up, I wrapped my legs around him, and he took me back to our bed.

I ended up falling back asleep, and when I woke up, I was content with myself, even though I had taken advantage of Dimitri. He didn't seem to mind though.

Dimitri was awake and reading a paperback novel about some cowboy, and I laughed.

"How do you keep finding new books to read?" I wondered. He glanced at me, then back at the book and turned a page.

"There are a lot of books that I haven't read yet." He answered.

"Read something to me." I suggested. Dimitri set the book down and looked at me surprisingly.

"Really?" He asked. I considered for a moment, and nodded.

"But not this book, a different one." I picked up the book and flipped through it, unimpressed.

"Which one?" He wondered, taking the book from my hand and putting it on the nightstand next to us.

"One from your mom. In Russia." I answered hesitantly. Dimitri looked pained, but I had to ask eventually. He needed to see his family. More than anything, he needed to do that. I'm not sure if he was ready to talk about Russia without going back into his depressed state, but I needed to talk about it with him almost as much as he needed to see his family.

"I'm not ready, Rosa. I can't." He said. I understood, but I also knew that his family needed to know that he was alive.

"Soon." I replied simply. "But not today. Besides, Lissa wants us to come with her to drop Jill off at St. Vladimir's." Dimitri laughed and glanced at the digital clock next to the bed.

"You should probably put clothes on." He said, sliding his hand down my back to prove his point. I reluctantly got out of bed and went into the bathroom quickly. I brushed my teeth and checked on my injury, noticing that it did in fact feel a little sore, but I wasn't regretting anything. After I brushed my hair and put on a tiny bit of makeup, I went back in the bedroom to put clothes on.

Dimitri had already gotten dressed and he watched me as I dressed. He laughed and kissed my forehead.

"Your beauty never gets old." He said, and walked into the bathroom. I smiled to myself and opened a jewelry box that Lissa had gotten me as a house warming present. I searched for my blue nazar necklace and didn't find it in there, so I checked my drawers and then Dimitri's.

I saw a silver chain and I lifted it out of his drawer and suddenly went stiff. The necklace wasn't my nazar, but it was mine. Dimitri had given it to me a while ago. When he was strigoi.

I never really considered him keeping anything he had. I didn't know what he had with him when he was changed and I never had a chance to ask those kind of questions, but he apparently kept this one item.

It was beautiful. The necklace was one of the simpler ones he got me, but I didn't doubt the expensive prices it most likely came with. The necklace was a simple thin chain, and it had diamonds on it, a heart in the middle, and two roses on each side. It sparkled even in the dark and had a small clasp at the back. I would have loved it, if it weren't for the fact that it disgusted me.

I remembered it because it was the first necklace that had to do with a rose. I usually didn't like those kind of presents, but it was so beautiful, I didn't care. I hadn't cared about a lot of things then. I put it back in his drawer and closed it right as Dimitri came out of the bathroom.

"Are you ready?" He asked. I smiled and nodded, deciding I didn't need a necklace after all.

"Let's go." I said, stepping toward him and grabbing his hand, kissing him lightly.


	2. Chapter 2

Lissa wanted to meet with Jill at a restaurant so we could all have breakfast before hand, but she ended up being called into a meeting that couldn't go on without the queen. Instead, it was just going to be Jill, Dimitri, and I, which was fine.

Jill had gotten more comfortable with herself, and I even saw her talking to a royal in the Conta clan. Lissa and Jill still had a rocky relationship, each one of them not wanting to do or say the wrong thing, so they usually just avoided each other.

We weren't going anywhere fancy, just a small diner hidden among the shops, but it was relatively packed, and I had to search a little for Jill.

She was sitting by herself at a small square table in a corner, and people would casually try to glance back her. When Jill started to become more comfortable in the environment, she also started to care about what she looked like. She was wearing a light blue sundress and it looked good on her. She also curled her usual crazy hair into perfect ringlets.

"Hey Jill," I said, sitting down across from her.

"Princess." Dimitri said, giving her a little bow. He sat down next to me and Jill blushed, shoving a menu my way.

"I waited until you got here before I ordered." She explained, trying to compose herself.

"You didn't have to, you're the princess now, you don't wait on anybody." I laughed. I looked through the menu and decided, while the waiter came up to order our drinks. I was used to everybody treating Lissa with such high esteem, but now with Jill, she was treated with normality. The waiter got Dimitri's drink first, then mine, then Jill's. Nobody took Jill's new title seriously.

I wanted to say something, but I also didn't want to cause a scene and make things even worse for Jill. Instead, I just smiled and asked for water.

"Are you ready to go back to school?" I asked.

"I guess. I just hope nothing changes. Everything has been doing that, I just want school to be the one thing that stays the same. Emily Conta was acting like my best friend, and last year she didn't even know I existed." She paused when the waiter brought the drinks and took down our order, than continued. "People are unpredictable."

"Speaking of unpredictable." Dimitri said, looking behind me. I glanced quickly and regretted it immediately. Adrian Ivashkov walked in with a damphir girl that I didn't recognize and they sat at a table almost directly across the restaurant from us. I wasn't sure if he saw me, but I didn't want to risk it.

"You still aren't talking?" Jill wondered, craning her neck to see him and the girl. Jill was there when Adrian found out that I had cheated on him and she tried to stay out of the situation as best as she could. She already blamed herself for messing up Lissa and Christian Ozera's relationship, even though they had patched everything up already.

"We'll talk when he's ready. And mature." Adrian and his mysterious girl immediately started making out, and I looked away. Under the table, Dimitri found my hand and squeezed it, meeting my eyes.

"We can go somewhere else." Jill suggested.

"No, this is okay. Besides, we already ordered. Are you getting your class schedule today?" I played with the ice in my glass, moving it around with my straw.

"I hope. Are you still going to be teaching?" Jill asked Dimitri.

"No. I'm guarding Christian now. I was just there temporarily because I was assigned to Lissa before." Dimitri explained, and something clicked in my head.

"You're going to be assigned guardians now!" I exclaimed. "Two, at least."

"I am?" Jill looked confused.

"You're a princess," Dimitri said, "You and Lissa were the youngest; but still, the royals will want to make sure you are assigned guardians early for safety reasons."

"Who?" Jill looked around, as if to find her new guardians standing before her.

"I'm not sure." I replied. I hadn't ever thought about it, but now I realized it was actually very important. I didn't want someone who wasn't capable, and the more I thought about it, the more ideas came up, but one in particular made me happy.

"Eddie can guard you." I said. "He would be perfect!"

"Eddie Castile?" Jill clarified. I thought for a second, and decided it was a good idea.

"Unless you have a problem with it?" I wondered. Jill shook her head.

"Eddie is a great guardian." Dimitri mused, and looked up as the waiter brought us our food.

I began eating the minute my plate hit the table, and I finished before everyone else. Dimitri finished closely after me, and Jill still had half her plate.

Dimitri's phone rang and he stepped outside the diner, leaving us alone.

"How long are you going to stay at St. Vladimir's?" Jill pushed her food around on her plate, seeming uninterested.

"Only for the week. We're going to be staying in guest housing. And the queen will be making an appearance to the school." Lissa swore I abused her title to much, but she deserved all the credit she could get, and I suggested that she should recognize Jill as her sister outside of court so more people would get used to the idea.

Damphirs and moroi alike grow up knowing who's royal and who isn't, so adding someone into the most elite group of people in our society, and even giving her the title of princess, is hard to get used to, and many people aren't going to address Jill as an important person unless someone sets an example for them.

"I hope you guys don't feel like you have to go." Jill said. "You don't have to do me any favors."

"No, we want to. Besides, Lissa wanted to go on the campus one more time, we grew up there. We will probably visit more than that even." It wasn't a lie entirely, Lissa and I couldn't care less about our emotional attachment to the academy, but we were planning to visit Jill so they could create a relationship eventually.

"I hope everything turns out okay." Jill sighed and glanced up as Dimitri walked back in and toward our table. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Adrian also glance toward Dimitri, and his face darkened. Adrian met my eyes, and for a brief second, we just stared.

I thought I could see him smile sadly for a moment, but it disappeared before I could really pay attention, and he returned back to his conversation with the damphir girl.

"Lissa called. The plane is here to pick us up. She said she would meet us there in five minutes." Dimitri said, and set down money on the table as Jill and I stood.

"Are you taking anything back to the academy?" I asked Jill, noticing she didn't actually have any bags.

"No, my mom is going to drop some stuff of from our house, but I don't really have much here." As we walked out, I made sure I didn't steal a glance in Adrian's direction, and we made it to the private jet perfectly on time.

Lissa, Christian, and Eddie were already on the plane when we boarded, and I immediately launched into my idea about Eddie guarding Jill.

"Do you think it's a good idea, Eddie?" I asked. He thought for a second, and looked at Jill.

"I don't see anything wrong with it." He gave a small bow to Jill, and she blushed, just as she had with Dimitri. "I would be honored to guard you, your highness." Eddie added.

"Lis?" I asked. "You could request that Eddie is made Jill's guardian."

"I don't know. I think you have more control over the guardians then I do." She was sitting in one of the airplanes chairs next to Christian, resting her head on his shoulder. Dimitri and I were sitting on the chairs across the row from them, Eddie and Jill facing them.

"Lissa, you're underestimating yourself. You have more power than anybody else here." Christian said.

"I'll try my best." Lissa vowed. "Have the guardians said anything about your assignments yet?" She asked Eddie.

"No. They're busy lately. You were just elected and Jill was announced princess, Rose showed up out of the blue when they had been hunting her down for a while, and Tasha-" Eddie stopped himself before he said anything about Tasha Ozera. "They're just really busy."

Christian hadn't said much about Tasha after she was imprisoned. He could have been visiting her in prison, but I wouldn't have been the one to know that. Lissa looked up at him and kissed his cheek.

"You don't have to try and make me feel better. It's a crappy situation, but I'm still myself. Don't be overly nice to me." Christian said, his snarky attitude always there to lighten the mood.

"Don't worry Christian; we won't be nice to you." I replied, stretching myself across my chair and resting my head in Dimitri's lap.

"Be careful Rose, your boyfriend is my guardian. I can unexpectedly leave for a month and you wouldn't be able to see him." Christian retorted.

"Liar. You wouldn't last two days away from Lissa." I laughed, and Dimitri brushed my hair away from my face.

"For once, Rose knows something." Lissa kissed Christian on the lips, and I groaned.

"There are other people here right now." I said, and Lissa flushed, but Christian smirked.

"Are you still interested in finding ways to fight with your magic?" Christian asked Jill. Jill perked up and they launched into a discussion of how often they would be able to meat up, and Lissa even offered to help with compulsion. I didn't particularly like the idea, considering it would mean that she was using more magic, and with the bond broken, it meant I couldn't take any of her darkness away. Lissa had once said that in order to be queen, she would need to sacrifice anything and everything to serve her people correctly, which meant she would need to make sure she wasn't getting taken over by evil spirits. I didn't say anything though, and let them have their moment, allowing Lissa and Jill to have one of their first real conversations sense they found out they were related.

I looked up at Dimitri and sat up, taking his hand and pulling him out of his seat. I pulled him toward one of the back seats and made sure we were out of sight, and I kissed him lightly.

"What was that for?" He asked, placing his hands on my hips.

"I was just thinking, this is the first time were going to be back at the academy sense the cabin." I explained. "It's where we first fell in love." It was where I almost lost him forever.

"Is Rose Hathaway being emotional?" Dimitri laughed, kissing me again.

"Don't let anyone else know." I said, kissing him back.

"Hey! Get a room! There are other people here!" Christian called back to us, echoing my earlier words. Without breaking the kiss, I lifted my hand in his direction and stuck my middle finger up. He laughed, and I didn't hear any more snarky remarks.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, the characters, or the plot.**

**Richelle Mead is the official author of the books.**

The plane landed in the academy's runway around mid-day, which was in the middle of the night for humans. Students ran around the campus finding their dorms and meeting with old friends. People stopped by our group, to say hi to Jill mostly, or just to gawk at the new queen and her entourage.

"Was it always like this for you?" Jill asked Lissa. Lissa looked at me and we both sighed.

"Yes." She replied. "But after a while it doesn't affect you anymore."

Usually students stayed in the same dorms that they were in the year before, unless the next year was important. Jill was transitioning into the upper campus, which meant she was getting a new roommate and a new room.

A moroi teacher stood at the doorway of her dorm trying to keep everything orderly while still assigning people. The main room was as loud as the school cafeteria and everyone had to practically yell to understand each other. Dimitri immediately took action in helping her keep order, and I figured they knew each other from when he was also a teacher.

She recognized Lissa and she smiled to her, then handed Jill a slip of paper that told her what room number she was in and whom she was with.

"Thanks." Jill said, reading it to herself. We almost started walking away, then Jill stopped and turned back around.

"There's something wrong with this." She said, handing the slip back to the moroi woman. She looked it over, than handed it back to Jill.

"Nope, nothing's wrong." She replied.

"It doesn't say who I'm going to be rooming with." Jill continued.

"You were assigned a room by yourself. It's Queen Vasalissa'a old dorm." The Moroi woman then returned to another incoming student and continued handing out slips of paper. Jill just nodded and headed for the stairs leading to the rooms.

I started to follow but Dimitri caught my wrist and pulled me back, kissing me on the cheek.

"I'm going to stay here for a while and help. I'll meet up with everyone later." He whispered in my ear. I nodded and turned back around to catch up with my group.

I went directly to Lissa's old room and found everyone, and even an addition. Jill's mom was sitting on the bed, taking things out of boxes randomly placed around her room.

Emily Manstrano wasn't exactly on speaking terms with me, considering I was the one who ruined her relationship with her husband, told everyone her biggest secret, and put Jill in an environment that she had been trying to keep her from.

When I walked in she stood up, and the room was silent for a second. She looked at me, than handed a picture frame to Jill, continuing to empty the boxes.

"Where's Dimitri?" Eddie asked.

"He stayed to help the moroi woman downstairs." I explained. "He'll catch up later."

"What are we doing tonight, anyway?" Christian wondered.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you guys!" Jill exclaimed, almost dropping the book she was holding.

"What?" I asked, leaning up against the wall.

"Kirova is the headmistress again!" Jill stated. "She wanted to see you all of you. She sent me the message last night. Alberta's going to be there also."

"Did she say what she wanted?" Lissa asked.

"No." Jill pulled out a bedspread and Emily and her set it up.

"Why didn't she just tell us?"I wondered. Eddie shrugged his shoulder and started to help pull things out of their boxes to help.

"You should probably let Dimitri know." Lissa suggested. "What time do we have to be there?"

"She said whenever you can." Jill thought. "But soon." Eddie finished with his box and set it to the side.

"I can tell Dimitri. I'm going to help downstairs anyway." He said.

"Let's just meet at Kirova's office after dinner, okay?" Lissa asked. Eddie nodded, than left.

"Lissa and I are going to walk around." Christian said, pulling her up off the bed. "Maybe stop by the church." He winked at her and I gagged. Jill looked up, surprised, and I just shook my head.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, alright." I said.

"Rose, that means we can pretty much do anything." Christian joked. They left and it was just Jill, Emily, and me. There was an awkward silence as they finished with the last box, setting things on Jill's computer desk.

I realized that they probably hadn't seen much of each other because Jill had been staying at court, and they hadn't been able to talk about the recent changes in both of their lives.

"I'm gonna go also. I'll see you later, alright?" I left the room quickly, heading downstairs. Things had cleared up, but Dimitri wasn't there anymore. He had probably left to help with something else. The school was still lacking in faculty, and I knew some part of Dimitri felt guilt, even though he wasn't a strigoi during the attack.

I headed for the training gym instead, deciding to waste time punching manikins. I stopped by the gym's locker room, changing into workout clothes that they kept there in case someone needed extras.

I stretched first, testing my bullet wound, than decided I could at least start off with running. I ran three miles without a problem, proud that I could still do it in good time. Ironically, when I first started training with Dimitri, I hated running, but I decided it was as important as he implied, more so even.

After I was done running, I went inside the gym and pulled out three dummies, setting them up. I practiced with them, but it didn't have the same effect as it used to. After fighting with real strigoi, the dummies seemed like the simplest thing. I continued anyway, and eventually took out a stake, and worked with that for a while.

I found myself imaging they were real, creating a history for each 'strigoi'. One of my fake enemies was a turned moroi, and he was relatively new. He didn't know much about fighting, and he was easy to take down.

The next 'strigoi' was the oldest, and I knew I should have taken him out first, instead of allowing him to assess the situation and learn how I fought. Unlike the first one, he was trained and anticipated many of my moves. He was also bigger than I, giving him the advantage.

My first move was to try to stake him. Most strigoi would expect a post-fight before a stake was used, so I hoped to catch him off guard. It didn't work though, and so I kicked him in the ribs and used the time to slice the stake through his stomach.

He faltered from the impact and I moved in to stake him. The last strigoi was finished off quickly, and when I was done, I stood in the middle of the three dummies breathing hard.

I looked around, proud, even though the dummies never actually fought back or dodged any of my attacks.

"Good work, Guardian Hathaway." I said to myself. I sat up against the gym wall, attempting to twirl the stake in the air and catch it as I used to see Dimitri do.

I tried about ten times before I actually got it right and I almost cheered for myself until I heard someone clap in the doorway. I looked up and saw Eddie standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing?" He asked, as he walked over and sat down next to me.

"I left Jill and her mom alone to bond. Everyone else left, so I came here and staked three strigoi." I said, motioning to the dummies around me.

"Oh?" Eddie asked. "I'm sure they deserved it."

"They did. That one right there," I said, pointing to the well-trained strigoi, "He was the hardest. The other two were simple. Piece of cake."

"Let's see how you do with someone that actually fights back." He stood up and walked over to the fighting mat.

"Really?" I asked, also standing and following him. I stood across from him on the mat, getting in my stance.

"Unless you're scared." He taunted. I scoffed and he smiled. Immediately I lunged for him, but he just barely stepped out of my way. He took that time to try to knock my feet out from under me, but I jumped up before he could make contact.

We circled each other for a little, and he took the offensive. I was dodging each attack until his foot impacted with my knee. I stumbled and he tried to knock me off my balance again. Instead, I caught his foot and pushed him back, forcing him to fall onto the mat. I pinned his hands down, but he shoved his knee into my stomach. He pushed me off him and jumped back on his feet. We went back and forth, and I actually had to work to win the fight, but eventually I did.

"You got lucky." Eddie said, smiling. He was laying on his back, slowing his breath.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." I said, also collapsing on the ground.

"Belikov did good work with you." Eddie thought for a second, and then slowly sat back up. "Rose, can I ask you a question, and you won't get mad?"

"Of course." I answered, curious. "Why would I be mad?"

"You're easily angered." Eddie laughed. "But, how long were you and Dimitri together?" This time I also sat up, staring at Eddie.

"Officially? Not long. How long have I had feelings for him? Almost immediately after I met him." Eddie frowned. "Why?"

"I was just wondering." He said. He paused for a second, then continued. "But… It wasn't going on when you were at school, was it? You weren't…" He trailed off, not willing to finish his question.

"We weren't physically involved, no." I said. "What are you getting at?"

"Well, I just wanted to make sure." He looked down at his hands, avoiding eye contact.

"Make sure what?" I asked. Eddie finally looked me in the eye, and I saw sadness in him.

"I wanted to make sure you were never cheating on Mason." He finished. I was momentarily speechless. I understood why he would care, but I hadn't thought about Mason in a long time. It was unexpected.

"It feels like it happened years ago." I said quietly, not needing to elaborate.

"A lot happened after. And quickly to, everything collapsed all at once." Eddie sighed.

"That's a good way of putting it."

"Mason was the first person I ever talked to. I never even considered his death. It wasn't that I thought he could beat death, he wasn't invincible, but I never thought he would even have to fight the battle." Eddie said.

"We're guardians; we all fight the battle between life and death." I smiled. "Cheer up though; Mason wouldn't want you to be sad."

Eddie smiled back at me, and stood up, starting to put the dummies back into the storage. I also stood and helped. After the last dummy was put away, I saw the gyms door open and Dimitri entered. He smiled when he saw me, and waved to Eddie.

"It's almost dinner, I better go get ready for our meeting." Eddie said, heading out. As he passed Dimitri, be turned back around to face me.

"Rose?" He asked

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Thanks." Eddie turned back around and left. Dimitri pulled me into a hug and kissed me.

"What was that about?" He wondered.

"We just talked about a lot of stuff." I said. I let go of Dimitri and headed into the locker room from the gym. He followed me, even though it was the girl's lockers. We were the only ones there.

"Do you know what Kirova wants?" I asked as I stripped off my sweaty clothes, placing them in the gym's laundry bag.

"No, but if Alberta's involved, then it must be about important. Alberta is a busy person; she doesn't really make meetings with people unless she needs to." Dimitri was leaning against the locker next to mine. I finished dressing and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Do you want to go to dinner, or just go back to guest housing?" I asked. Dimitri laughed and kissed me, pulling me closer.

"Is this a trick question?" He asked and I smirked.

"It's not like we can do anything fun if we go to the housing" I said sadly. Dimitri actually laughed aloud.

"Why not?" He entangled his hand in my hair and brought his lips down to mine. I practically melted under his touch, but eventually we had to break the kiss.

"Not enough time." I said regretfully. Dimitri released me and laced his fingers with mine.

"That's not true. I could make it work." He smiled. "But we can't anyway. Our suitcases are being brought to our room by the pilot in about ten minutes. I'm good, but I'm not that good." I laughed and we left the locker room, slowly walking through the campus.

"What did they need help with?" I asked as we walked.

"Just little things here and there, nothing really stressful." Dimitri replied. A group of teenagers passed by us, and one of them stopped.

"You're Rose Hathaway!" She exclaimed. "And you're Dimitri Belikov!"

"Yes." I said. She held out her hand and I shook it, then Dimitri did.

"I'm Jenifer. I'm training to become a guardian." She said proudly.

"Cool." I replied. "Are you a sophomore?"

"Yeah." Jenifer said. "So are all my friends." She motioned around her and one of her friends stepped forward.

"If both of you are staying long enough, maybe you can hold a training session! You guys are legends!" One of Jenifer's friends said. Dimitri and I exchanged glances.

"Sure, why not." I said. Jenifer practically squealed.

"Yay!" She exclaimed.

"On Wednesday we can do it." Dimitri said. The group agreed and then everyone said their goodbyes. I waited till they had rounded the corner, and then Dimitri and I continued.

"You're a celebrity." I said, lightly elbowing him.

"You are more so then me." Dimitri replied, draping his arm over my shoulder and pulling me closer.

"You wish." We found the guest dorms and got to our room. I recognized it because it was right across the hall from Adrian's old room.

"I'm going to take a shower," I said, kissing Dimitri lightly.

"You're a tease." Dimitri was sitting on the bed, and I smiled at him.

"How?"

"You're going to be in the shower, but I'm not allowed to do anything about it." Dimitri explained. "I have to wait out here for our bags."

"You can handle yourself." I said, going into the bathroom.

I showered quickly and kept my hair down, letting it air dry. I stepped out of the little bathroom with a towel wrapped around me to find Dimitri was already ready to go and our bags were returned to us.

By the time I was finished getting ready, we were late. Kirova's office was incredibly familiar to me, and I got there without a problem. Alberta greeted me with an unexpected smile, and she nodded to Dimitri.

Everyone else was there already and we quickly took our seats in front of Kirova. In a normal setting, Lissa would be sitting in front of everybody, but she didn't care really, and she always had high respect for both the women addressing us.

"It's nice to see you all again." Kirova said, immediately getting to the point. "I trust you're all settled in by now. I wanted to talk to you about Jill Manstrano." That was unexpected.

"Your highness, you were a main target for the strigoi, and many others even, wanting the Dragomir's to simply die off. You becoming queen made you even more of a target, especially to strigoi." Kirova paused for a second. "St. Vladimir's doesn't have as much protection as it used to. We don't have as many guardians, and I'm not sure it's safe for Jill to continue attending the academy."

My jaw dropped. Kirova had always been proud of her school. For her to publically announce that it wasn't safe was a big deal.

"Kirova, I don't doubt for a second that Jill would be safer than ever here." Lissa said. "I wouldn't want her going anywhere else."

"I understand." Kirova said. I could tell she wanted to argue, but you never argued with the queen. Unless your name was Rose Hathaway.

"Was that all?" Dimitri asked.

"Not exactly." Alberta spoke this time, stepping forward. "Christian Ozera, I seem to be incapable of teaching certain fighting techniques."

"What are you talking about?" I said, before I could stop myself. Alberta was one of the best fighters.

"Many students are taking it into their own hands in teaching themselves how to fight, students that weren't allowed to be fighting. Moroi students, to be exact." Alberta thought for a second.

"I've discussed this with several guardians, and we all agree, it seems safer to offer them an environment to learn, instead of them doing it alone and causing another casualty. We're trying to learn from the past. If the queen approves, the only thing we have left to do is to find a teacher." She looked at Lissa questioningly.

"I accept the idea." Lissa said. Alberta nodded approvingly.

"Well then, Christian Ozera, would you like to be a teacher here at St. Vladimir's Academy?"


	4. Chapter 4

"Christian, it's an amazing offer!" Lissa exclaimed. Christian was speechless at first. He hadn't really been worrying about what would happen after school, he figured with Lissa as queen, it wouldn't be a big deal. Christian getting his own job, especially as a teacher, was unexpected.

Christian asked Kirova and Alberta if he could have time to consider it, but he didn't like the idea.

"I spent my whole life looking forward to the day I got out of this place, now I'm being asked to come back?" He explained. Dimitri, Lissa, Christian, and I were sitting in my guesthouse.

"Christian, even I know it's not a bad idea." I said breaking my silence. Even Christian was surprised at this, and he raised his eyebrows. Lissa frowned, but I didn't understand. Of course he should stay. It was an offer he would never receive again.

"Rose, you realize that if I stay, Dimitri says." Christian said. In an instant, my thought process was broken. I hadn't realized that, actually. I glanced at Dimitri, and I frowned to myself.

"Oh." I said simply. They considered the debate while I stayed silent, and I could feel Dimitri's eyes on me, but I didn't want to return the look. I knew if I did, it would only cloud my judgment.

"Take it anyway." I said. Lissa stopped in what she was saying, and this time she looked at me in surprise.

"What?" she asked. I looked at Christian.

"Take the offer. Teach." Everyone exchanged glances.

"Rose, I'm not sure you understand. Teaching is a busy job. And if I'm teaching, then they would probably make Dimitri a teacher. He trained one of the best students in history; it would be idiotic if they didn't." Dimitri let out a small laugh that caught Lissa off guard. Around other people, he didn't laugh much, he always seemed serious and stoic. I was beginning to get used to his laughing, but I knew what it felt like to be surprised by it.

"So. Lissa and I can visit. And it's good for Dimitri. He likes teaching." I didn't need to ask him to know it was true. "And I know secretly you like it to. If you didn't, you wouldn't waste your time doing it for free with others. This way you get paid to create an army of magicians."

Christian for once didn't have a snarky reply ready. He seemed lost in thought. Instead, Dimitri said something.

"Rose, you won't be able to visit often. You and Lissa will have school." Dimitri laced his fingers with mine and pulled me closer to him. Lissa wasn't paying attention. Either that, or she was just giving us privacy.

"We don't start for another month or so. But that's beside the point. If you stayed at court, or got a house, or anything really, it wouldn't change. Lissa and I would still see you the same amount. We wouldn't be any closer." I squeezed his hand lightly. "I want you to do what you want. Well, I want you to be a good guardian to Christian, but this is a great opportunity for you. It's the best offer you're going to get."

Dimitri didn't smile. His facial features didn't change in the least bit. But I could see something in his eyes. Just his eyes, nothing else. I couldn't quite make out what it was exactly, but it was something.

Lissa unexpectedly stood up and pulled Christian with her. He was surprised also, but didn't argue.

"We are going to…go. Bye." Lissa said. She left, and I almost followed her, but I was caught off guard when Dimitri brought his lips down to mine. I hadn't expected it and got pushed onto my back. Dimitri didn't pause though, and he took possession of my lips. Eventually I decided to just go with it and I didn't complain.

We didn't particularly go father then just kissing, but I was still out of breath when Dimitri finally paused. We were lying on the bed in the hotel-like room, and Dimitri was almost completely on top of me.

"What was that for?" I asked. Dimitri simply shook his head as he smiled.

"I love you." He said, rolling off me. I snuggled up to his side and closed my eyes.

"I love you to." I said, drifting away into unconsciousness.

As soon as I was asleep, I recognized a certain kind of dream. A spirit dream. At first, it seemed my spirit user was hidden. They were surrounded by shadows. I took in my surroundings and was caught off guard. The setting was unusually dark. There were trees around us, and it was nighttime. A cliff was behind me, I realized, and finally, the person turned around to face me. I couldn't quite make out who it was. I knew enough to know that it wasn't Lissa. Adrian was a possibility, and I'm sure he was mad enough to put me on the edge of a cliff. I looked closer though, and this person was too old to be Adrian. It was a man though. I squinted into the darkness and I heard a malicious laugh. The laugh filled the silence in an eerie way that sent chills down my spine.

"Rose. Rose Hathaway." The voice was filled with anger. Hatred. I could make my voice sound mean. People were scared of me because of it. Compared to this person, though? I had nothing on them. They sounded sadistic and evil.

Before I knew what was happening, the man was next to me. He moved with strigoi speed, but I knew that was impossible. Strigoi were not spirit users. Finally, he was close enough to recognize, and I immediately froze up. It was Robert Doru.

He lifted his hand up to my face, and I flinched. In a normal circumstance, I would have attacked. If I did in this dream though, Robert could do whatever he wanted. He had full control of my surroundings. Instead, I looked him in the eye. His eyes were just as sadistic as his voice. They were also ringed in red, like a strigoi, only he still had color. I couldn't explain it. He moved like a strigoi, but he was still using magic.

"You thought you were safe." He exclaimed. He voice was pitched high, and he talked like an excited little kid. "Victor's brother is weak, you said. You left me."

His mouth was right up against my ear, but he was practically yelling. I knew he was talking about when I killed Victor. We abandoned Robert somewhere in the town afterward because he wasn't a threat anymore.

"Little did you know, a little strigoi was following us. He stopped by me when he realized you were just going to leave me there. He was going to attack, but he underestimated me just as much as you did. I got him. I killed him. He squealed like a pig." Robert laughed at his own joke. "I thought to myself, why waste? I drank him up like I would a feeder. He made me feel strong. And now I'm stronger then you. You and your boyfriend. I'm getting ready for you."

I was speechless. A moroi drinking from a strigoi. A moroi draining a strigoi. It had never been done before. Not even considered. Obviously the affects were disastrous, but this was insane. Robert was insane. I could feel vengeance in the energy around him. He was a different kind of strigoi. He was a strigoi that could use magic.

Robert was grinning, showing his fangs, which were blood stained. He placed a hand on my shoulder and pulled me closer, his mouth at my ear again.

"Think before you act." He said, and then pushed me away. I almost lost my balance off the edge of the cliff, but I stayed upright. Robert clicked his tongue at me, and I heard a cracking sound. I looked at my feet and the earth was breaking away. I tried to avoid it, I raced away from the cracks, but I was too late. My foot got stuck and I fell with the earth. I shot my hand out trying to grab hold of something to keep me from falling but it didn't work.

I shot upright in bed and Dimitri immediately woke up, alarmed. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his chest. I was surprised to find myself sobbing. Dimitri pulled me onto his lap and up against him.

"Rose." He said, brushing my hair out of my face, and making me look at him. "Rose! What's wrong?" He asked sternly.

"Robert." I said, calming my breathing. "He's…." I trailed off. I couldn't really explain what he was. I didn't even know.

Dimitri looked around the room, as if expecting Robert to be there.

"Robert Doru?" He clarified. I nodded and rested my head against his shoulder.

"He's different." I said. "A dream. He pulled me into a dream." I shuddered and Dimitri placed his finger against my mouth, shushing me.

"Clam down. Breathe first." He guided my breathing, and I slowly composed myself. Dimitri kissed my forehead. He looked pained and scared. Not because his life was being threatened like mine, but because of my hysterics. He was scared for me.

"Are you better?" He asked. I nodded again. "Okay. Start at the beginning."


	5. Chapter 5

Dimitri wasn't quite sure how to react. He was silent during my entire explanation, never interrupting me. When I was finished, though, he wasn't convinced.

"Rose, how do you know it wasn't just a nightmare? How do you know it was spirit induced?" He had asked that question several times, and it was starting to get annoying.

"Dimitri, I just know. You don't know what it's like. There's something about it, I can't really explain." I flustered.

"How do you know it was Robert?" He asked after a slight pause.

"Of course it was Robert, he was the only other person in the dream." It couldn't have been anyone else.

"Spirit users can make you see anything they want. They can make you think you're seeing Robert, instead of whose really there." He said pointedly.

"Yeah, but who would do that? Lissa doesn't even know how to, and she wouldn't anyway." I considered Lissa just messing with me, but she wouldn't go that far, no matter how mad she was at me. Dimitri placed his hand on the side of my face, and I moved closer to him, resting my head on his chest, snuggling as close to him as I possibly could. He brushed my hair back with his fingers.

"Lissa isn't the only spirit user you know." He said finally. It took me a second to figure out what he was trying to say.

"You don't think…" I trailed off, not able to ask the question.

"Adrian was mad. Still is, from what I can tell. I saw him at the diner; he obviously still had some lingering feelings. Adrian is a good guy, but he doesn't really think before he acts." I looked in Dimitri's eyes and saw anger. He really thought Adrian was the cause. It was possible. Adrian didn't particularly like me anymore. But something about the dream had a different feel to it. Like the difference between auras. It felt darker. Crazier. Maybe it was Adrian, and he was just being taken over by spirits darkness.

"Whoever it is will have to go through me if they want to hurt you." Dimitri said, tightening his grip on me. I nodded in agreement. I knew without a doubt that Dimitri was telling the truth. I also knew that he would stop anyone who challenged that.

I couldn't go back to sleep. Dimitri tried to stay awake with me, he kept brushing my hair out of my face, soothing me, but I felt bad. I closed my eyes and slowed my breathing, pretending to lose myself into my subconscious. Dimitri's hand slowed for a little, and then I felt him kiss the top of my head and fall asleep himself.

Instead, I lay in bed, wide-awake. I watching the sun go down, thinking about all my previous days as a student at this school. Everything was easier then. I wished I could slip into Lissa's mind, like I had so many other times, but I doubted she was awake, not that it changed anything.

Finally, I attempted to slip out from under the blankets, but Dimitri woke up almost immediately.

"Where are you going?" He asked, sitting up.

"Nowhere. I wasn't sure yet. You were asleep." I answered, crawling back into bed. He pulled me over to him.

"When did you wake up?" He wondered.

"Oh, not too long ago…" I was avoiding his eyes, knowing he could tell I was lying.

"Rose, you can't lie to me." He said. "Why did you let me fall back asleep if you were still scared?"

"I wasn't scared." I said defiantly. Dimitri rolled over on top of me, smiling a little.

"You're right. Nothing could ever scare Rose Hathaway." He leaned down and kissed me, his lips warm against mine. "Can I tell you something?" He asked. It seemed strange he would have to ask, he could always tell me anything.

"Of course." I replied.

"When I was your teacher, I would wake up in the morning and imagine situations like this." He explained. "When you would be here, with me, and we wouldn't worry about getting caught, we would just be content with each other." He kissed down my neck, stopping right above the hem of my tank top.

"What do we have to do today?" I asked, arching up so he can push my shirt down a little more.

"Nothing. Unless you have something planned with Lissa." He pulled my shirt up and over my head, returning his mouth to my collarbone.

"If I told you I did would you stop?" I asked, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling his lips up to mine.

"Depends" He said when we pulled apart. "How important is it? What time does she need you?" He kissed me again, rolling over so I was on top of him. "And is there a possibility that she might come barging in unexpectedly because you didn't show?"

"It's not that important." I said evasively. Dimitri pulled back and pushed my hair away from my face, only to have it fall back in front of me.

"We can finish this later." He said, rolling back over and getting off the bed. I was frustrated, but Lissa had wanted to hang out today, and I also wanted to tell her about Robert.

"You took my shirt off for nothing." I mumbled. Dimitri crooked a smile.

"I wouldn't say it was for nothing. I got to see what I wanted." He was changing into the guardian uniform.

"Do you have things planned for today?" I wondered.

"Yeah. The teachers are getting together and going over the plans for the this coming year. We get class schedules and other information. Christian is going to have to tell Headmistress Kirova he's taking the job now. Unless he changed his mind." Dimitri sat down next to me when he was done getting ready.

"Well, have fun. Stay away from beautiful under-aged students." I said with a smile. Dimitri smirked and snaked his arm behind my back, which was still bare except for my bra.

"There's only one under-age girl I'm interested in." He said, and kissed me. I laughed and pushed him off me so I could go into the bathroom and take a shower. In the guest housing each room had their own bathroom, in the student dorms the showers were separate.

I stood under the water for a while, letting my skin soak up the warmth. I heard Dimitri leave and I took my time in the shower. When I got out I decided to still take my time, and I curled my hair to perfection, putting on mascara and a little bit of lip-gloss. I found out later that I didn't have anything nice to wear, and it was impractical anyway, so I kept my usual jeans and a tank top look.

I stepped out of the room and into the hall, facing Adrian's old room. It had a weird affect, and I still didn't know if he was the one who cause the dream, but like most of my problems, I ignored it and continued. I tried Lissa's room first, but no one answered, so instead I went to Kirova's office to see if Christian was there.

I was lucky enough to find both Lissa and Christian there, speaking to the receptionist and signing papers. Lissa saw me walk in and she smiled brightly.

"Rose, you look nice." She said, returning back to the paperwork.

"Thanks." I said, than I directed my attention to the receptionist. She was the same girl who was there when I dropped out of school. And when I dropped back in. "Is Ms. Carmack here?"

"She quit after the attack." She said sadly. Ms. Carmack was the old elemental control teacher. "Surely you know that. It's why we needed Christian to replace her."

"Why do you need Ms. Carmack?" Christian asked, signing the last piece of paper and sliding it across the desk.

"I'll explain later." I said. The receptionist looked between all of us, and then thanked Christian and told him he needed to go straight to the teacher meeting.

When we left the building Lissa and Christian immediately turned to me.

"What?" I asked.

"Explain." Christian answered.

"God, how do you even know it's important?" I said, continuing to walk.

"Because you've gotten predictable." Lissa said.

"Have not!" I argued.

"Whatever, what's going on?" Lissa countered. I sighed and sat down on one of the benches.

"I had a spirit dream last night." I said. Lissa and Christian waited silently. When I didn't finish, they both frowned.

"I was expecting something more exciting than that." Christian said. "You get those all the time, Adrian is constantly pulling you into them. And Lissa. What did he say this time?"

"That's the thing, I'm not sure it was Adrian. It was… weird." I paused for a second. "Hypothetically, what would happen if a moroi drained a strigoi?" This caught both of them off guard.

"That's the kind of exciting I was looking for." Christian said. Lissa just frowned more.

"I doubt it's possible. You would have to get close enough to one of them and hope you don't get killed first." Lissa explained. "Why?"

"Well, hypothetically, say they did get close enough, and say they did drain a strigoi, and they turned into one, would they still be able to use magic? Hypothetically, of course." I continued.

"I'm starting to think this isn't hypothetical at all." Christian said. "If strigoi could use magic, then what would we use against them? A stake wouldn't work. They would be invincible, because magic wouldn't affect them. They could pass through wards."

I slowly started to feel worse about the situation. I hadn't even considered half of those things.

"Good to know." I stood back up and continued on my way. Lissa and Christian had to jog to keep up. Lissa stopped right in front of me, and she looked a little scared. It was exactly what I was trying to avoid.

"Rose, it's not a problem though, right? Nothing like that could ever happen?" She asked. I considered lying to her, but I had done that so many other times in my life.

"Well, I could be wrong, I could be horribly wrong, but something similar to that might have already happened." I avoided her eyes.

"What kind of similar?" Christian asked.

"Well, not similar, pretty much all of it happened." I finished quickly. "But I could be wrong!"

"Explain." They said in unison.

"Well, you remember me saying that when Victor was murdered, Dimitri left Robert on the side of the road somewhere?" they both nodded. "Well, it seems to me we might have underestimated him a little. He was the person in my dream."

Lissa and Christian's mouths were both open in shock.

"Adrian could have been messing with me though! He was mad and he could have made me think I was seeing Robert."

"No, he couldn't. In a spirit dream you can't bring anyone else into the dream unless you are physically with them. And I doubt Adrian would go through that much trouble for a practical joke." Lissa sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, there goes that theory." I said.

"So what are we going to do about it?" Christian asked.

"I don't know." There was nothing we could do.

"Right when I think we escaped all the madness." Lissa shook her head in exasperation. "Well, we'll do what we always do. Improvise. I'll look through all the old documents and see if anything like that has happened before. Considering I'm the queen I doubt it will be too hard to get my hands on those."

"We've gotten through worse things before." I said optimistically.

"Worse then what?" I heard Dimitri say behind me. He didn't hug me or kiss me, but that was because he was a teacher again, and everything was professional. Only a slight change in his eyes showed me he appreciated my extra effort to look good today.

"I told them about the dream." Dimitri stepped forward.

"Did you tell them it could have been Adrian?" He wondered.

"It couldn't have been. Adrian would have to be with Robert." Lissa said dismissively.

"What are you going to do?" Dimitri asked. "By the way, Headmistress Kirova wants you in her office."  
>"Thanks." Christian said. He kissed Lissa quickly. "Let me know what he thinks." He said, and left. We found a deserted quad to sit in without being interrupted and explained. I also pointed out how magic wouldn't affect Robert.<p>

"I don't think it's happened before." Dimitri said. "Unless it was kept very quiet. And the strigoi didn't know about it."

"How do you know the strigoi didn't?" I asked. Dimitri looked at me and smiled sadly.

"I would have been told by one of them." He explained. At that moment a girl came up to us excitedly. It was the same girl from before, Jennifer, the one who wanted us to train with them.

"Where have you guys been? Everyone is waiting in the gym for you two!" She said. "It's Wednesday!" She clarified when both Dimitri and I looked at each other, confused.

"Oh!" I said, and stood up quickly. "How long have you been waiting?"

"Not too long." She said. "Just come on."

We both followed her. She went straight into the smaller gym, the one Dimitri and I had spent the most time together. He looked at me and smiled. There was a crowd of students, much bigger than planned. Once we walked in everyone fell silent, except one group of kids. There were three guys standing around a damphir girl. She had long blonde hair and her skin was perfectly tanned. She also spoke as if she was superior to everyone in the room, and she didn't stop for us.

"Isabelle!" Jenifer said. The damphir girl looked up, and immediately met my eyes, then Dimitri's. I knew the look, and I didn't like it. She smiled broadly at him, the way I would have done when I was her age. She couldn't have been more than a sophomore.

"Sorry Guardian Belikov." She said sweetly. "I didn't hear you come in." She ignored me entirely. Everyone sat down, even Jenifer, and waited patiently. Dimitri took immediate action, not even acknowledging the girl. He spoke about different things the student would be learning, and he even announced he was going to be teaching again. The kids all looked at each other and whispered excitedly, all except one. The Isabelle girl raised her hand, unimpressed. She glanced at me, then back at Dimitri.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I was just wondering, is she going to be teaching also?" She looked me up and down in disgust.

"No, Guardian Hathaway personally guards Queen Vasalissa herself." He explained. If he was just as annoyed with the girl as I was, he didn't show it.

"Wow, so the rumors are true." She stood up and moved toward me. "Well, you don't seem all that impressive."

"Isabelle!" I heard someone say in the audience. She chose to ignore them.

"Well, we wanted a training session; let's see what you've got." She got into a battle stance, whereas I just stayed standing without caring.

"I wouldn't want to hurt you. Besides, I've been training much longer then you. You're only, what, a freshman?" I asked. She sneered at me. It was like Mia all over again, only in damphir form.

"I don't know if that's true. You see, the difference is I actually stay in school, I don't run from my problems. I think you're just too scared to be beat by a freshman." She said. I realized the entire room was waiting to see what I would do. I had a reputation, it was part of the reason why I was so famous, and everyone knew I was short tempered. Personally, I could have broken her in two right then and there, but I didn't think it would go well with the other guardians, let alone Dimitri. I glanced at him, and he was just sitting back, watching. I glared and he just smiled in amusement.

"Your friend isn't going to help you, he obviously doesn't care." She looked at Dimitri and smiled again. "Maybe I could just train with him. I wouldn't mind wrestling with that."

I moved to fast for her to notice, and her back was turned. Some part of me knew I was only adding to my bad reputation, but it felt good. I grabbed her wrist and twisted her around to face me, then I knocked her off balance and she fell to the floor.

"I told you, I just don't want to hurt you." I said, and offered her my hand. Each student was holding their breath.

"I was distracted." She said.

"First thing you should know about being a guardian, strigoi don't stop and let you get prepared. If I was a real one, you would be dead." I turned to the audience. "Does anyone who actually knows what they're doing want to train?" I asked.

One of the boys who had been talking to Isabelle stood up. He was also a damphir, and he was tall. He had blonde hair, and was almost identical.

"May I?" He asked me. I nodded. "My name's Steven. I'm a junior. And I'm Isabelle's brother." He explained.

"Steven, sit down, I can handle myself." Isabelle said, outraged.

"No Isabelle, I don't think you can." He stepped forward and onto the training mat. Dimitri had stood up now, and was watching Steven's every move.

"Well, let's see what you've got." I said. Steven immediately lunged for me, and I jumped back, but he caught my shoulder and brought me down with him. He landed on me, and air rushed out of my lungs. He was definitely better than his sister. I pushed him off and ended up straddling him. I wanted to impress everyone by pulling out my stake to pretend to pierce him in the heart, but as I was reaching down for it, he took the opportunity to roll over on top of me. In the movement, he pulled my stake out of my back pocket, and placed it right over my own heart. I realized it was slightly inappropriate because he also had his other hand on the small of my back and he was smiling broadly, his face close to mine.

"If you were a real strigoi, I could have killed you." He said, laughing. Dimitri took immediate action. He stood and helped Steven off me, and told him to stand back, before returning my stake to me.

"The only problem with that logic, Steven, is that if Guardian Hathaway where a strigoi, she wouldn't have had the stake on her. They can't carry stakes, so you wouldn't have had any way to defend yourself. You should have retreated. As for Guardian Hathaway, weapons like that are not to be used during any kind of training, I would have expected you to be more responsible than that." Dimitri mentally slapped me in the face. I almost let my mouth hang open before I regained my composure.

"I'm so very sorry, Guardian Belikov." I said, sarcasm dripping off every word.

"Training is dismissed." Dimitri said abruptly. Many kids complained, but they all started to stand and leave. "I hope to see all of you in my classes."

Steven stopped to say goodbye to me personally on his way out.

"I wish you were teaching here, you would make an amazing mentor." He said, and winked at me before leaving. Dimitri left without saying anything and I ran, trying to catch up to him.

"What's wrong?" I asked when we got into our room. The walk had been completely silent. Dimitri still didn't answer, and instead he just continued into our room.

"Dimitri, answer me." I said. I sat on the bed and Dimitri leaned against the door frame.

"Nothing is wrong." He said finally. "You were just acting extremely inappropriate."

"Excuse me?" I asked, standing up again. "I wasn't doing anything wrong! I was actually teaching, not sitting back and doing nothing!"

"You make a horrible teacher, then, Rose, because you violated several rules by using that stake. If it were up to me, it would be confiscated." Dimitri showed no emotion on his face, but I'm sure I showed plenty.

"Well, it isn't up to you, is it?" I asked. He didn't answer. "And honestly, what do you think you were doing? That girl was obviously throwing herself at you, and you didn't even do anything about it!" I realized my voice was raised a little higher then it needed to be, but I didn't care.

"What was I doing?" He yelled back, "You were the one practically making out with her brother! I'm sorry if I interrupted too soon, I thought maybe it was inappropriate the way he grabbed your ass." Dimitri lowered his voice dramatically, which only made me madder.

"Whatever. He wasn't trying anything like that. He noticed I had a stake and used it. It was a pretty smart idea in my eyes; meanwhile, you just humiliated him in front of everyone." My voice was still loud. Dimitri closed his eyes for a second, and then walked away.

"Where are you going?" I yelled.

"Out. I'm staying somewhere else tonight." He said, before the door closed behind him. I sat back down on the bed, furious. Dimitri had no right to say any of those things. If anything, he was flirting more then I was.

I pulled the covers over me, not bothering to change out of my clothes. I fell asleep faster then I planned, probably because I had gotten so little sleep the night before.

I immediately recognized a spirit dream, and my defenses were on high alert. This time I anticipated Robert. He didn't attempt to hide himself this time, he was in clear view, but I was still perched precariously at the edge of a cliff.

"Robert." I said as a greeting. He snarled, only this snarl was much scarier than the one I received from Isabelle.

"Guardian Hathaway." He replied. He stepped closer to me. "I have been waiting for you."

"Well, okay, but can you make it quick, I'm incredibly tired, and now is not the time to play psycho strigoi with me." I sat down, and crossed my arms over my chest. I could tell Robert was annoyed by this, he wanted me scared.

"Don't be smart with me!" He yelled into the air. His voice was still laced with insanity, but I held my ground, not letting it show how much it affected me.

"Okay, what do you want?" I asked.

"I want you. Dead." He whispered in my ear. "Maybe alive, I think I could deal with that to. I wouldn't mind draining you."

"Well, I was hoping we could negotiate. Like, I give you a million dollars, and you let me sleep." Robert backhanded me, and it stung. A lot. He had the strength of a strigoi. It reminded me so much of when Nathan, a strigoi who lived with Dimitri when I went to avenge his soul, hit me. Robert could see in my eyes that he had broken through my emotional shield.

"You lost all opportunity to negotiate when you murdered my brother. I will find you. I'm on my way now. But do you know what I can do now? I can invade your mind when you're awake. You aren't shadow kissed anymore, are you?" I didn't need to answer.

"Didn't think so. You have no way of blocking me out, unless you find a way to push me out, right now!" He was back to yelling. I had already thought about that, and I was working on it. Once, Adrian had made me so mad, I pulled out of the dream. If I did that, I could put up my usual walls that kept the old ghosts out, and I was hoping it would work. I just needed to regain the power to pull out of the dream itself, but he had such a tight grip on it this time.

"Tick tock, tick tock. If you tell me where you are, this would be much simpler. I'm waiting for you to return to the royal court, I'm waiting outside, eating up people here and there. I'm inside the wards, and no one even knows. I'm a sneaky one, I am. I even surprise myself. I ate up one big guardian, and he didn't even have time to scream. Your moms here though, aren't she. And papa. Who else is here, hmm? Who else that means so much to you?" He put a finger under my chin and made me look him in the eyes.

That was it, that's what I needed. I found the energy to push away from the dream, and I saw Robert try to grab me just before I disappeared into my subconscious again.

It only lasted a few seconds, though. I was pulled into another dream, only this one was surprisingly cheery. I was standing in a garden full of roses, and I was wearing a red strapless dress that trailed far behind me. Adrian was leaning up against one of the trellises in the garden, and I immediately ran up and hugged him. He was caught off guard, but reluctantly wrapped his arms around me anyway.

"Lissa wanted me to check on you, said you were going through a lot of things." He said when I pulled away. He looked incredibly tired. I sat down and sighed. "Rose, what was she talking about? I know that face. That's the face you make when you're in serious shit."

I explained everything. I don't know why I told him. Maybe because he was the only person who could keep Robert out of my dreams. If he was there, Robert couldn't get in. Maybe because some part of me wanted to patch up our friendship. The main reason, though, was that if Robert was telling the truth, and he was in court, everyone needed to get out, or they needed to have a serious lockdown, and search everywhere until they found him.

Adrian was speechless at first, until he realized what I was saying.

"Adrian, he knows my mom is there, please! Go tell someone!" I pleaded.

"Okay." He said. "Are you going to be alright? I don't want you going to asleep unless I'm there to keep Robert out, we don't know what he can do." Adrian momentarily showed the compassion that he used to have for me, and it made me sad.

"You need to let me know before you go to sleep." He continued. I nodded.

"Thanks." I said. He also nodded, and the dream disappeared, and then I wasn't asleep anymore. I immediately got out of bed and I changed into sweats. Then I went out searching for Dimitri. I headed for the teacher wings, constantly looking over my shoulder the whole way there.

I had to keep reminding myself that Adrian was letting everyone know what was happening, and that people were probably already searching for Robert. It seemed strange to me, telling everyone. I was so used to keeping everything hidden, trying to handle things on my own, it was strange not to. I guess Dimitri was wrong, I was responsible. Maybe even more then I had ever been. Other people's lives were in danger, and I did what I needed to do. I just didn't know if I was comfortable with everyone knowing a psycho man was stalking me.

Dimitri wasn't in his old room, and the moroi sitting at the main desk said that he assigned the same room as before. I didn't know where else to look, so I just sat down on one of the couches so I could think.

It took a while for me to realize that there was still one other place he could be. I immediately jumped up and left, practically running across campus. I reached the edge of the forest and continued until I could barely see the top of a wooden cabin, and I picked up speed.

I didn't bother knocking on the door, I just walked in, and Dimitri shot out of bed, until he realized it was me.

"Rose." He said. The anger in his voice from earlier had vanished, and I threw myself into his arms. As if he was reading my mind, he brought his lips down to mine, and he didn't take time to remove my shirt. I knew I needed to talk to him, but I wanted to escape for a little while, and Dimitri had that kind of effect on me.

He pulled me onto the bed so I was on top of him, and he only paused to pull his shirt off and my sweats off. He returned his mouth to mine, and we fought to strip each other. Finally, we succeeded and I got just what I wanted. It was the perfect escape, and Dimitri was more than happy to help.

"I bet Steven couldn't have made you that happy." Dimitri said afterward. I was laying in his arms, still naked, just like the last time we had done this in the cabin.

"I don't think anyone could make me that happy."


	6. Author Notes Not part of story

Sorry the last chapter took so long, I was extraordinarily busy. I plan on updating more frequently though, and I hope you enjoy it. Also, I do not own anything that has to do with Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead is the original author of the series. Thank you for the reviews, by the way, they make me proud of my work.


	7. Chapter 6

**First off, I did not proof read this at all, so there is a high possibility that there are several mistakes. Also, I don't own Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead does, and, one last thing, I just want an estimate, so I can tell if it's still worth it to post the chapters on here, so if you have extra time and you want me to continue writing this, just tell me in the reviews. I realize I said I wasn't looking for them, but I just want to know who's reading this.**

* * *

><p>"How did you find me so easily?" Dimitri asked. I was laying on his chest and kissing his neck lightly.<p>

"There were only so many places you could have been." I said. "And I was in a hurry." Dimitri moved his hand down my back.

"Why were you in a hurry?" His hands slid up and down my spine, sending chills through me.

"Nothing. I don't want to talk about it. Not now." I said. Dimitri's hand stopped and he lifted my chin.

"You were in another spirit dream." It wasn't a question, really.

"I don't want to talk about it." I said, kissing his jaw line in an attempt to distract him. It didn't work. Dimitri sat up, lifting me with him.

"Rose, why do I always have to be the responsible one?" He reached over and picked his t-shirt off the ground. "Put this on."

"You're better at it then me, comrade." I said, pulling his shirt over my head. It smelt like him, and it took a lot of self-control not to inhale.

"Did Robert say anything new?" Dimitri smoothed down his shirt and wrapped his arms around me again.

"Why do I have to put on clothes, but you don't?" I asked.

"Stop changing the subject."

"Fine. He was just as crazy as before. He still threatened my life, only this time he included a few others. But it's all figured out, Adrian-"

"You talked to Adrian?" Dimitri interrupted.

"Yes, he's helping me. Robert said he was at court. He said he's been killing people." Dimitri's arms tightened around me.

"Do you think Adrian will be taken seriously?" He asked.

"Who knows? But it's worth a try. Either way, I'm not letting Lissa go back there until I know Robert is gone." I swung my legs over the bed. "I should call Adrian."

Dimitri grabbed his phone off the nightstand and dialed a number. He waited for a little, and then the receiver picked up.

"Yes, can I speak to Adrian Ivashkov?" Dimitri asked. There was a small pause. "That's fine. Alright, thanks."

"What happened?" I asked. He didn't reply, instead he continued the conversation.

"It's urgent." Dimitri said. "Thank you." There was another pause. "Adrian, Rose would like to talk to you." Dimitri handed me the phone.

"Hey." I said.

"Hey. You know, these guardians are hard to convince." He joked.

"What's happening?"

"Nothing. Well, Abe has his secret henchmen searching the area, he says he believes anything you say now." He laughed.

"What did the guardians do though?" I was starting to think I should have just kept my mouth shut.

"Nothing. They said that if it were possible, they would have records of it. Well, only one guardian said that, Hans. I told him, and he decided to keep it to himself. I told your mom, she told Abe. I also told Mia. I'm thinking that if he's targeting people that mean something to you, they should be the ones aware." Adrian seemed pleased with himself.

"Did Abe find anything?" I asked

"No, not that I know of. Why would Abe tell me though?"

"Good point. Thanks Adrian, I appreciate it. I didn't think you would…" I trailed off. Adrian sighed.

"Little damphir, I would never miss out on one of your crazy adventures, no matter what." Adrian finished, and disconnected. I took that as him saying he was always there for me, but I wasn't sure.

"How much longer until our day starts?" I asked.

"We have a while." Dimitri said.

I thought for a second. "I can't go back to sleep, not unless Adrian is in my dreams, and he didn't sound tired."

"You're sleeping with Adrian?" Dimitri didn't sound like he approved in the least bit.

"Well, yes, but not like that. How else would I get away from Robert?" I kissed him lightly on the lips. "I promise, you're the only man I plan on sleeping with. Ever."

"Good." Dimitri said. He kissed me and pulled me into him, wrapping his arms around my waist in the process.

"You get jealous to easily. I'm sure you've been with multiple girls."

"Yes. But not one of them is better than you in any way." He reassured.

"Who?" I asked. I was probably pushing my boundaries, but I wanted to know.

"I'm not sure you want to know that." Dimitri wasn't looking me in the eye.

"Who?" I repeated, a little more cautious.

"You only know two of them." He said.

"How many are there?"

"Five."

"You slept with five girls?" I asked. Dimitri looked ashamed, but then I revised my words. "I know you can do better than that."

Dimitri laughed. "Only one of them was when I knew you." He seemed to realize this wasn't the right thing to say the moment it came out of his mouth.

"Rose, keep in mind, it meant nothing. Just promise me, no matter what I tell you, you'll know that I was doing it to distract myself from you." I already knew who it was. It was the same reason I went to Maison. Only I stopped it before it went too far.

"Tasha." I said, without needing an answer.

"Yes." Dimitri smiled sadly. "Honestly, if I could go back, I would change it. I'm probably the reason why she tried to kill you. I can't deny that I was leading her on."

"I doubt that changed anything. I would have killed for you to, even before the last time we were in here." I laughed. "Who else do I know?"

"I'd rather not say." Dimitri kissed me, and this time he drew the kiss out, making it last. He put me between him and the bed, without breaking the kiss.

"Distracting me isn't going to work." I said simply, allowing him to take possession of my body. Dimitri sighed.

"Do you really want to know?" He asked, lifting his head. I nodded.

"Alright. It was when we had guardians out looking for you and Lissa. Most of the guardians were off campus, and school hadn't started. It was around this time, only last year." He thought for a second. "It feels like a lifetime ago. But, either way, this woman and I, we were alone, and she had a thing for me, I just didn't know until then. She wasn't ugly, either, and she was a great guardian. She was nice, too. Before we did anything, it was made obvious to both of us that it was with no string attached." He paused again. I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out who he was talking about.

"You promise you won't be mad?" He asked. Without waiting for an answer, he said quickly, "Alberta."

I wasn't mad. I wasn't even slightly upset. Instead, I found myself laughing. Dimitri obviously didn't think it was funny, though, and he seemed more upset with it than I was.

"Alberta's… cool." Was all I could get out before I started laughing again.

"It isn't funny." Dimitri said sternly.

"Alberta is so…" I tried to think of the right word. "Old." This time Dimitri laughed.

"Rose, I'm seven years older than you." He said.

"I know, but still. Was she…?" I couldn't finish my question without laughing again.

"I hope you weren't asking what I think you were." Dimitri shuddered.

"You know me to well, comrade." I replied

"Honestly, I don't remember. I cannot remember anyone before you. You surround my memory." He said, kissing me playfully on the lips.

"Good." I said, returning the kiss. We stayed there for a while, joking with each other, talking, and enjoying ourselves. I couldn't help but compare it to our first time together, and how this was how it should have been afterwards, carefree and simple.

"Let's go outside." I ordered, getting out of bed. I stepped to the door, took a deep breath, and opened it. I silently prayed there wouldn't be an army of strigoi out there, ready to kill. There wasn't. Instead, I found a large sun shining light in between the large Montana trees. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and it was perfect.

"Rose, put some clothes on." Dimitri called. I looked back and he was pulling his own pants on. I laughed.

"No thank you." I said, stepping out of the door. Before I knew it Dimitri was behind me, grabbing my wrist, and pulling me back inside.

"Roza," Dimitri warned. "You could easily be seen, and then how do you plan on explaining yourself?"

"Seen by who? The millions of guardians that work at the school. Not to mention all the ones that walk around way out here in the middle of the forest." I said sarcastically. Dimitri was reluctant to let go of my wrist, but he ended up giving in.

"If it helps you at all, I'm not entirely naked, I'm wearing your shirt." I winked, and Dimitri growled jokingly.

"I noticed." He said, pulling me into his arms. I looked up at the sun, and couldn't hide my smile.

"I could never be a moroi." I said. This seemed to affect Dimitri more then I meant it to. His arms tightened around me for a moment, and I knew without a doubt that he was reliving his old memories. The moment passed, though.

We stayed in the sun for a while, not caring about anything. To say it was perfect would be an understatement. Every once in a while, a bird would swoop down and watch us, keeping a fair distance. We were most likely the only entertainment on the entire campus.

I could tell Dimitri wasn't willing to completely drop his guard, he was still aware of everything around us, making sure no guardians patrolling the area were capable of seeing us. He wasn't the careless one between the two of us, I was.

Things had just started getting really heated between us when we heard a loud snap. Dimitri pulled away from me immediately, lifting me off the ground. We heard footsteps, no less than ten feet away. We wouldn't have been able to make in to the cabin in time, and whoever was coming would probably try going in it anyway, so I acted on instinct. I grabbed a branch of one of the trees closest to both of us and I hoisted myself up, climbing as far as I could go, Dimitri directly below me. Dimitri pulled himself onto the same branch that I was on, putting both his arms on either side of me, making sure I didn't lose my balance and fall. I tried to look under his arms at the stranger who had intruded, but I couldn't see anything. I listened quietly, and hear more footsteps. There were two people now.

"I don't know why Alberta has us all the way out here." One person said. I saw recognition on Dimitri's face, but I had no clue who it was.

"The queen's here. We need extra protection." That voice I knew well. It belonged to a guardian, and a teacher, named Stan Alto. We had gotten into many arguments, and we weren't particularly fond of each other, but I had earned Stan's respect along the way. If he caught Dimitri and me, I would probably lose all the respect I gained, and ruined Dimitri's relationship with him.

"Who's going to be hiding out here?" The other guardian asked. "It's the middle of the day, strigoi aren't even capable of being out here."

"Students could be out here though," Stan said glumly. I mentally added teachers into the statement. "We all know how much trouble they caused last year."

The other guardian seemed to agree, because he stopped complaining and they continued on their way. I thanked whoever was listening that they didn't go in the cabin. Dimitri and I hadn't exactly cleaned up.

I started to talk again, but Dimitri put his finger to his own lips, still listening intently. He waited for a good five minutes before dropping from branch to branch until he reached the ground. He helped me off the last one, placing both hands on either side of my hips for support. When I reached the ground, he pushed me against the tree.

"I told you this wasn't a good idea." He said, his lips only inches from mine. I wasn't sure if he was trying to prove a point, but he was making it harder for me to be responsible every second.

"I had fun." I shrugged, fighting the urge to kiss him. Dimitri sighed in exasperation.

"We should have been more cautious, if Stan or Abel had found us, I could have lost my job." Dimitri released me from my prison and went into the cabin. I followed diligently.

"I didn't recognize the other guy." I said, pulling his shirt over my head and handing it to him. Dimitri looked up to take the shirt, and instead got distracted by me. Desire burned in his eyes.

"Hey!" I said, "We need to be more responsible, remember?"

"It wouldn't be the first time I wasn't responsible with you, Roza, and it wouldn't be the last." I expected him to start taking off the clothes he just put on, but instead he only continued, much to my disappointment. I searched for my bra as we talked.

"The other guardian was Guardian Abel. He worked at the court a few years back, he was probably called here as a reinforcement." Dimitri explained. He had finished getting ready, whereas I still couldn't find my bra.

"Sometimes I think you know everyone." I said. I finally found it, hiding underneath a chair. It had a small rip in the side, but I put it on anyway. "You owe me a new bra, by the way." I said, pointing to the tear.

"That will be a fun shopping trip." Dimitri said, grinning. I found the rest of my clothes and finished getting dressed. This time, we tidied up the area, putting things back in their places. Dimitri suggested this, partly because he wouldn't put it past Kirova to start putting guardians back in the cabins to watch over the school, and he thought it would only be polite to make the guardians comfortable.

When we got back to our guest housing Dimitri immediately got in the shower, and I powered on the computer. I needed to check my email because I was getting my class schedule from Lehigh University. Sure enough, it was there, including a list of books I would have to buy. Lissa obviously had the same schedule as I did, and I looked over her choice in classes. She was taking psychology, which I didn't really mind, and political science, which I hated.

She had wanted to take other classes, but as the queen, she was limited down to two. It took some persuading to let her continue to go there, and I even suspected a little bit of compulsion. I wouldn't put it past Lissa. I wanted to get it out of the way, so I preordered my books just as Dimitri was getting out of the shower.  
>He looked over my shoulder and nodded in approval. "I'm surprised you aren't taking animal behavior."<p>

"It isn't my decision. We were going to, though, until she was limited down to two classes." Animal behavior had been my favorite class at St. Vladimir's, and I got my best grades out of that class. Dimitri knew this because he was always given a report card when he was my instructor.

"Psychology could be interesting." He said, "It will help you know your enemy better."

"Always business with you." I joked, and closed down the computer. Dimitri smiled.

"You're the only person I don't relate to business." He said, kissing me lightly on the lips.

"Oh?" I asked. "What am I"

"Pleasure." Dimitri said simply before kissing me again. I laughed against his lips. "But today can't only be about you. I have more teacher meetings. Things will start getting pretty busy around here."

"Only a week until this school starts." I said, somewhat to myself. Dimitri stepped away from me a toward the door.

"I'll see you." He said.

"Stay away from Isabelle." I yelled after him, just in time to see him roll his eyes. I called Lissa almost immediately, and she told me to meet her in the library. On my way over there I stopped in the cafeteria to pick up a banana and bagel, grabbing a yogurt for Lissa.

She was sitting in the corner of the library with people practically circling her like vultures trying to get a good view of her majesty. I slid into the seat across from her and slid the yogurt her way.

"Thanks." She said. She finished whatever she was reading and closed the book, setting it aside. "We got our schedules."

"I know. I ordered the books to." I said, biting into my bagel.

"I feel like I should be more excited, but I'm sort of regretting it." She said.

"Liss, you have always wanted to go to college."

"I know, but it just seems like more things to worry about. Especially considering Robert might be back." She sighed and handed me one of the books she was reading. It was on psychology. "I'm getting a head start." She said. I opened the book at random and was bombarded with words I could barely pronounce, let alone explain what they meant.

"God." I handed the book back. "I'm staying as far away from those books as possible, until I am actually in class."

"Rose, please, just study with me." Lissa begged. "Christian is constantly being called into teacher meetings, I'm sure Dimitri is also, so you have nothing better to do."

"What happened to the good old days, when instead of studying we went to parties and made out with hot guys?" I wondered. Lissa laughed.

"I'm done with parties. They never end well with me. Besides, I'm sure the constant supervision would kinda ruin the mood," She gestured to the five guardians standing around the room, like ghosts, blending into the scenery. They were her personal guardians. I was also one of them, but I knew that she was safe here so I didn't follow her around like a shadow. Once upon a time, St. Vlad's was the last place I considered Lissa safe, but now I found it safer than the court itself.

"Maybe we can get them drunk." I said. "I wonder what they're like when they actually talk. Have you ever actually heard them before?"

"I haven't. They are always so secretive. You would think they would at least confide in me, but they just stay quiet." Lissa explained.

"Probably they just need to keep the badass persona there. If they don't talk, it adds intimidation." As if on cue, one of the guards stepped forward and handed Lissa a note without saying anything.

"What's that?" I asked, finishing off my bagel.

"From my stylist." Lissa explained. "It's for the dinner I demanded. The one where I walk around all the students like I'm better than them."

"You have your own stylist?" I asked. "Why don't I get a stylist?"

"Because your job includes standing in front of a wall. It doesn't really require you to look all that decent." Lissa joked.

"Whatever. I don't need a stylist anyway. I look good in anything." I ate my banana quickly.

"Come with me." Lissa asked desperately.

"Where?"

"To see my stylist!"

"Really, do I have to?" I reached for one of the books. "I'm not sure which I prefer, watching someone cake make-up on your face or read about the art of reverse psychology."

"I'm not getting ready for it today, It's in a week, we are only planning out my wardrobe."

"Alright, I'll go." I said, "But I expect a raise."

"You don't need money, what are you going to buy?"

"I'm not going to buy anything, your right, but I have to make demands while I still can." Lissa rolled her eyes and we left the library, the group of guardians following right on our trail, moving as if they were one being.


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey. I'm incredibly sorry for the time space between these two chapters. You have no idea. I was busy with so many things, I couldn't really get part of my book on here, but while I was busy I wrote a bunch of the story, and this is not all that I have, not even close, so I'm hoping they will come more frequently. I cannot express how sorry I am, I only hope you enjoy what I have. Also, I do not own Vampire Academy, I am not the original author, 98% of the characters were originally thought of by Richelle Mead, and if you haven't read Vampire Academy yet, go do so.**

Lissa's stylist was flamboyant to say the least. I had never seen him on the school campus before, so I figured the only reason he was here was for the queen. He seemed entirely too excited when we first arrived, already having four designs made for Lissa's dress. He had bleached blonde hair, and he was wearing a suit that probably cost more than my paycheck. He introduced himself as Steven.

"Why can't she just wear a dress she already has?" I asked. Steven dropped the pencil he had in his hand onto the ground, and he gaped at me, as if I just announced I was becoming an astronaut.

"That's funny." He said, and picked up the pencil, jotting down notes. I rolled my eyes, but sat back and watched anyway. He had a laptop, and he used it to show pictures of different eye makeup and dresses, shoes and purses. I was just about to attempt to disappear without Lissa noticing when someone walked in. At first, I thought it was going to be another one of his helpers, but instead, I found myself looking at Ambrose.

Ambrose was an incredibly attractive damphir, almost worthy of rivaling Dimitri's good looks. I once could have been interested, but he was sleeping with the old queen, Tatiana, and more importantly, I was already in love with someone. He smiled and sat down next to me.

"Nice to see you, Rose." He said.

"You too. What are you doing here?" Steven had apparently found something he liked, because he squealed with joy.

"Helping." He gestured to Lissa. "I told him she isn't that kind of person though. Anyway, she could go in jeans and a t-shirt and still look amazing."

"I didn't even know this much effort was put into these things." I admitted.

"From here on out, if the court decides where Lissa is going is important, she has no say over what she wears." Ambrose got up and went to talk to Lissa and Steven, giving them his opinion on things. It went on like this for about an hour, until finally they decided on a dress. Steven had sketched it himself, and I even had to admit it was perfect. The dress was long, and it had a train. It was also strapless, silver, and covered in sparkles. The dress was designed to cling to her skin, until it got to her waste and it started to flair out. Steven said something about wanting to set an image for Lissa. Innocent, but still powerful, and the dress worked wonders.

On our way back, Lissa wanted to stop by the feeders, and I told the rest of her guards that I could handle it. At first, they all stood in a group, still silent, and then slowly they departed. There were three people already waiting, so Lissa sat down in a chair. The moroi working the feeding schedule almost fell over herself to let Lissa in early.

"I've been going to this school for my entire life, and I've waited in these lines every time, I can continue." Lissa had told her, and she quietly agreed.

"You know, you could ask for anything you wanted. Who needs compulsion when you can just become queen?" I joked. Lissa glanced around to make sure no one heard me say compulsion.

"It's annoying." Lissa said. "Nothing changed in me when I became queen. I didn't magically become smarter or better. I'm still the same person, only now I carry around a higher title in front of my name."

"You also make bigger decisions. Like teaching moroi to fight. Or what dress you're going wear."

"Even better. When me approving the moroi training classes gets around, a lot of people are going to argue."Lissa sighed, shaking her head.

"No matter what you do, people are going to argue. It's the same situation Tatiana was in." I said.

"That doesn't comfort me, Tatiana's dead." Lissa's name was called then, and we got up and walked over to the feeder.

"Yeah, but she was killed because someone was trying to frame me. Nobody would attempt that, because everyone knows I would never kill you." Lissa smiled, and then sat across from the feeder. I had to look away when she bit down, because it still affected me. A lot.

It didn't last long, though, and afterward we went to Jill's common room. We decided to watch a movie while we waited for Dimitri and Christian. They had a teacher banquet, and they were both allowed to bring one guest. Jill was coming to show the fellow teacher what kind of fighting Christian would be teaching. They had apparently been practicing more than I thought.

I wasn't paying attention to the movie at all, completely spacing out. I was thinking about Robert, and where he was. My biggest fear was that he was here, at the school. I honestly had no idea. No one that I told had heard of anything like that before, not even Abe. Lissa had promised she would look through the records at court, but at this point, I really didn't want her at court. Robert had already said he was there. If he were really killing people, though, wouldn't someone realize it? A person randomly disappearing wasn't normal.

I jumped in my chair when I felt a hand go around my mouth. My stomach nearly collapsed, until I heard the voice in my ear.

"You really shouldn't let your guard down." Dimitri said quietly. Christian was already in the room, sitting on the couch across from the TV with Lissa and Jill. All the lights were off and I could only see Dimtri's shadow in the light coming from the TV.

"I like being surprised." I said, pulling his hand away from my mouth. Dimitri gave a soft chuckle and lifted me up off the chair, so he could sit down, then laid me back down, so I was sprawled across his lap.

"What are you watching?" He asked.

"I don't know." I said honestly.

"Typical." Dimitri played with my hair as we watched, and it turned out to be a Disney princess movie. We all waited until the movie was over to go up into our rooms and get ready for the banquet.

"What should I wear?" I yelled to Dimitri. He was in the bathroom, shaving. When he came out, I couldn't help but pull him closer to me, so I could suffocate myself in the smell of his shaving cream. He was wearing very nice dark jeans, and a black, long sleeve, button up shirt, that was only buttoned two times. His chest was completely bare underneath.

"We need to get ready." He said huskily.

"I don't have anything to wear." I replied. I let him out of my grasp and he finished buttoning his shirt. "Should I wear my guardian clothes?"

"No. Something more formal." Dimitri said. He was already ready, and I hadn't even picked out what to wear.

"So a dress?" I asked. I had only brought three dresses, not knowing if I would ever need it. I pulled them out of the closet and laid them on the bed for Dimitri to pick from.

One of them was from Adrian, and I was happy when he discarded it. The two others were from Lissa, and he picked out a short black strapless dress. It was sparkly around the skirt and when I spun, the skirt flared out around me.

I pulled off my clothes and stepped into the dress, pulling it up. I brushed my hair to one side and turned so Dimitri could zip up the back. He kissed the top of my shoulder lightly when it was zipped.

"Do you have a necklace you want to wear?" He asked. I immediately thought of the one hidden in his drawer. To be honest, it would have looked amazing with this dress, but I refused to say anything about it.

"I'm fine." I said, a little too abruptly.

"I have something for you, and I'm fine with you not wanting it…" Dimitri said. My heart nearly stopped.

"What is it?" I said, nonchalantly. Dimitri opened his drawer and dug around, pulling out the necklace.

"Before you ask any questions let me explain." He said, interrupting my thoughts. "You obviously know where this is from; I can see it on your face. Rose, when I came to find you," He paused."When I came to kill you, I wanted to return it. I hated that fact that you didn't want the things I worked to get. It seemed disrespectful to me. This one in particular though…"

"Do you remember that ring you had? You were asleep when I saw it, and you had already explained to me where you got it. It was interesting to me, my old life. This ring was directly from it. In a strigoi's head, if it came from their family or friends, it belonged to them. I wanted it. I wasn't going to do anything with it, I couldn't care less about it, but because it was given to you by Oksana, I believed it was truly mine. That ring in particular had a weird affect on me. I went out, and I kept it with me. I didn't care if you woke up and found it missing, you were barely yourself anyway, you tricked me into believing that I had complete control over you."

"So while I was out, I started to not want to kill. I actually considered the family of my victim, the pain I would be causing them. I cared. Now, I know that it was because the ring was healing me, not entirely, but just a little. So instead of eating that night I went to a moroi store. There are very few in the world, and that may have been the only jewelry store. An old moroi women was working there, and I knew she understood what I was. It was wise that she didn't do anything about it though. I could have easily killed her. I wasn't that different then myself."

Dimitri paused for a moment, and I sat down on the bed, pulling him with me. While he was talking I brushed my hair slowly, trying to hide emotion from my face.

"I told her I wanted a necklace. The best one she had. She didn't question it and immediately got this one out. When I lifted it up something changed in me even more drastically. I even asked her how much I owed her. She seemed strange to me after that. She kept smiling and nodding her head. She told me I didn't need to pay for anything, and I left. When I got back to you, I put the necklace and ring down, and I became angry again, but I never forgot that feeling. I always had a small voice in the back of my head reminding me of the time I spared someone's life as a strigoi. I kept the necklace because I didn't want anyone else to have that feeling, except you of course. I wanted it for myself. Even as a strigoi, I clung to life. When you left it, I was infuriated. You didn't appreciate it. So I was going to make you wear it when I killed you. Now it holds a deeper meaning to me. It was the only gift I gave you when I was myself, and if you don't want it I understand. It's just a reminder that I still had control over my life, you and this necklace saved me from truly becoming evil."

At first I was speechless. I didn't know what to do. Dimitri wasn't showing much emotion, and when I made my decision I simply nodded. He stood me up and moved my hair to the side again, placing the necklace around my neck and connecting the clasp at the back. When I turned around to face him he brought his mouth down to mine, a little harder than expected. His hand entangled itself in my hair, and we stayed like that for a while, until both of us needed air. He rested his head on my forehead, breathing a lot slower then I was.

"I love you." He whispered. I smiled. Then, in his usual way, he pulled away and checked the time.

"We have seven more minutes. Go finish." He said. I accepted the change of emotion and went into the bathroom. "And curl your hair!" He yelled after me.

I listened to him and managed to curl it in five of the minutes I had left. I quickly put on a little bit of makeup, and by the time I had black high heels that Dimitri insisted I wore, we were three minutes late.

"I'm starting to think the only reason you want to go to this thing is to see me get dressed up." I said. Dimitri smirked, but ignored me otherwise.

He led me out of the building and toward the teacher's side of campus. We got inside a large building that I knew held the teacher's lounge. He opened the door for me and I was caught off guard. Inside were all of my old teachers, dressed up and moving around, having conversations in little groups. I could see Stan talking to Alberta, and Stan was actually laughing. Alberta surprised me even more when I saw what she was wearing. She was wearing a dress, and it was very low cut. It went all the way to the floor, so it wasn't that revealing, but it was still a strange image. The moroi teachers were clearly more relaxed then the damphirs, but there was a significant change in appearance. There was a table with different foods and drinks, they even had a small bar including champagne and wine, beer and vodka. Some teachers were staying away from it, others were going a bit overboard.

I headed towards the table and Dimitri caught my wrist, pulling me back to him.

"No way." He said, reading my mind.

"Dimitri, it's a party! People drink at parties!" I started.

"Not eighteen year olds. You aren't old enough." He smiled at my facial expression, then leaned down and whispered in my ear. "I'll take something back with us to our room. Just promise not to tell anyone."

"I'm a bad influence on you." I said, but decided that was a better idea than any. Dimitri guided me around the room, introducing me to new faculty and old friends. I spoke to some of my previous teachers, which was still extraordinarily awkward because of my relationship with Dimitri. We were talking to a new guardian and Alberta when the question slipped out for the first time.

"What happened to you, Dimitri? We all heard stories, but what really happened?" He was only curious, and I couldn't blame him, but this was not the place to relive those moments. I looked at Alberta for assistance and she immediately jumped in.

"Oh, Sebastian, I doubt that kind of conversation is appropriate, this is a party. Here, drink up." She shoved a glass of champagne into his hand and he only hesitated slightly. Dimitri's arm was around my waist and it tightened.

"Rose!" I heard Lissa call from behind me. I turned and saw her with Christian and Jill. All three of them looked like they just walked out of the cover of a magazine.

"Hey." I replied, breaking away from Dimitri and making my way over. "Why are you so late?"

"Christian and Jill were nervous. They said they still needed to practice, but their demonstration will be any second." She said. Christian smiled, looking smug.

"I'm not one to boast, but we are probably the best magic users out there." He said.

"Christian, you boast whenever you get the chance." I said. "Jill, you look amazing."

"Thanks. I just hope it's enough to show everyone I'm important." She fidgeted with the sleeve of her dress.

"You don't need to prove yourself to anyone." I reminded her. She looked back up just as Alberta and Dimitri joined us.

"Are you both ready?" Alberta asked Christian and Jill. Christian's answer came immediately. Jill's didn't come quit as fast.

"Good, because everybody is looking forward to it. And you better make it look good, because some teachers are still doubtful." She turned to face the rest of the room directly and everyone stopped talking at once. Being Alberta meant people listened to you, no matter what. Dimitri, Lissa, and I took three steps back leaving the spotlight for the others.

"As you all know, Christian has been assigned a teaching job here at the academy. We all understand he is younger than usual, and he wasn't exactly an honor student in his years, but I have seen great potential, and most of us realize how much his craft can help us." She started.

"Jill Dragomir is currently a student, and in most cases she would not be allowed to demonstrate this, but considering she's been taught by Christian himself, she's our best candidate." Alberta glanced at Jill and Christian and beckoned them closer. "Christian, if you will kindly explain your demonstration."

Christian cleared his throat and began. "Well, the reason I'm demonstrating anything right now is because some of us still aren't comfortable with my craft. Let me be very clear when I say that if we had this class less than a year ago, the amount of people in this room would be doubled." There was a small murmur that traveled through the crowd.

"Students in my own grade caused a massive attack on our school because they were trying to teach themselves these things. I'm sure Jesse Zeklos would still be capable of screwing shit up, no matter what classes we gave him, but the others wouldn't be quite as happy to join his little group. If you can honestly tell me you don't think teaching magic would help in any way, please, by all means, step forward." Silence filled the room, and no one stepped forward. Not one person budged.

"Thank you." Christian said. He motioned to Jill and she stood about fifteen feet in front of him, making the circle around them fan out even more. "I'm not really sure how to explain what we are about to do, so just watch."

Christian produced a small spark of fir in the middle of his palm. Jill did the same thing in her hand, only with water. They both flung the opposite element at each other and they collided in the middle. The water washed out the fire while the fire evaporated the water. They now had everyone's attention. Christian smiled at Jill before continuing. She nodded, and he snapped his fingers.

Almost immediately Jill was engulfed in flames. Head to toe, she was covered. Several guardians jumped out of the crowd, only a few feet from her, but they couldn't get there in time. Jill had produced a shield of water, and she pushed it out around her, until it reached Christian and drenched him. He focused and his skin started to get a red tint to it, and we watched as he warmed himself up, drying his clothes along with it. That's when things started moving faster. Spews of water and fire flew through the air, trying to get at the other Moroi. Christian and Jill had so many tricks up their sleeves that by the time they were done, the teachers around them were applauding. Christian couldn't hide the pride on his face.

When the clapping died down, questions bombarded the pair, and they were surrounded by people. Lissa didn't try to jump in, she just sat down, smiling to herself.

"Well, I think this went well." I said. She laughed.

"They both underestimate themselves. That isn't even half of what they are capable of."

"Just don't let it get to his head too much. I have a feeling tonight is going to be about how amazing he is already." I said, nodding to Christian. Dimitri placed one of his hands at the small of my back and I looked up at him.

"They also don't realize the power they would have over a strigoi. If it got out that the moroi were practicing magic again, well, strigoi wouldn't be nearly as powerful as they are. Constantly they talked about how stupid moroi were for abandoning their magic." He said.

"But strigoi themselves abandoned their magic." Lissa stated. Dimitri nodded.

"Yes, but they did it to get something in return. Eternal life. They consider it to be one of the most idiotic ideas to give up magic and not get anything in return."

"Are they scared of magic?" I asked. He nodded again.

"It's one of the biggest threats to them. I ran into an old strigoi, he was ancient. He was around when moroi used magic before, which is unheard of. I wouldn't be surprised if he's the only one still alive, but we spoke of magic. He said that moroi today are like children. Before they were warriors." Dimitri looked forlorn, and I changed the subject, but somewhere in the back of my mind I agreed completely with the strigoi. Using magic could open so many doors.


End file.
